#140 - #141: Kabuto & Kabutops

Official art of Kabuto, by Ken Sugimori.

Kabuto and Kabutops are the second set of fossil Pokémon, and quite honestly they are more interesting than the fossil Pokémon that preceded them in the National Pokédex. For the story about Lord Helix and Lord Dome I refer you to Omanyte and Omastar's entry, because I'm not going to tell the same damn story twice. Now, the most interesting thing about Kabuto is that is seems to be based on an ancient creature called the horseshoe crab, a species that has lived on Earth for at least 450 million years and are still to be found in our oceans and on certain beaches. Because of this trait, horseshoe crabs are considered 'living fossils', which is a term to describe living species that appear to be similar to species we otherwise know only from fossils. The curious thing is that Kabuto's Pokédex entries say that it lived eons ago but that it has now gone extinct, something the anime contradicts. You see, in the ninth episode of the second season of the anime, "Shell Shock!", Ash and his friends arrive on an uninhabited island where scientist are seeking to excavate Kabuto fossils after the discovery of one of said fossils. Ash, Misty and Tracey (who temporarily replaced Brock in the Orange Islands saga) join the expedition, but it is soon discovered that they are being sabotaged by an old man named Umberto, who warns them of a prophecy that impies that disturbing the Kabuto who inhabit the island will cause the island to be swallowed by the sea. And just upon discovering a cave full of Kabuto fossils, Team Rocket arrives and throws a bomb, which Ash catches and throws at the fossils. Of course, this wakes the Kabuto up and they fall from the walls of the cave, causing the island to sink into the ocean, since the fossils kept it together.

This is a horseshoe crab, a creature that has lived on this planet for a whopping
450 million years. Now tell me that, except for the tail-like thing, this is not what
Kabuto is based on.

So, it can be assumed that the Kabuto in this episode were in some state of hibernation, coming to life when they were disturbed by the people visiting the island. It's a quite literal interpretation of the term 'living fossil', but at least it's clear that Kabuto is based on the horseshoe crab (and maybe a little bit on the extinct group of arthropods called trilobites). Additionally, kabuto is the Japanese word for a type of helmet first used by ancient Japanese warriors and that later became a part of the traditional Japanese armor worn by samurai. Interesting, because Kabuto looks nothing like such a helmet.

An attacking Kabutops. I feel sorry for its prey.

But what about Kabutops, Kabuto's evolution? Well, all I can say is that Kabutops is not based on the horseshoe crab like its pre-evolution is. Instead, Kabutops shares traits with trilobites (specifically the cheirurus genus), especially the spines down its back and its cephalon, which look like the segments of trilobites. The sickle-like arms, however, imply that Kabutops is also based on eurypterids, extinct prehistoric arthropods that looked a little like trilobites but were armed with claws instead. They are believed to have been more closely related to horseshoe crabs than trilobites, but the comparison of Kabutops with horseshoe crabs ends right there. As for its flavor, Kabutops is much scarier than its pre-evolution: before it went extinct, it was in the process of evolving from an excellent swimmer into a land dweller in order to catch prey that had already evolved into land-dwelling species, but once it had its prey, Kabutops ripped it apart with its scythes and drank their internal fluids.

Yikes. That's about as gross as Omastar cracking a Shellder's shell open and sucking its insides out. Man, these prehistoric Pokémon were SAVAGE!

More fan art. Man, do I love this thing.

Unfortunately, Kabutops is not as savage as I'd like it to be in the competitive scene. However, it has access to some nifty moves, among which Swords Dance and a water-type Quick Attack: Aqua Jet. It learns it naturally as a Kabuto, and with an attack stat like Kabutops's and an attack boost from Swords Dance, it can hit pretty hard, making Kabutops an excellent sweeper. For the good physical moves you shouldn't take a look at its level-up movepool, though, because most of the attacks it learns are pretty booty, except for Night Slash. But TMs and Move Tutors really help it out here: it can learn Brick Break, Rock Slide, Stone Edge, X-Scissor, Waterfall, Aqua Tail, Superpower and Knock Off. For a competitive Kabutops, I'd recommend running an Adamant or Jolly one with maxed out EVs in attack and speed, a Life Orb to help boost its power, the Battle Armor ability to prevent random critical hits, and a moveset consisting of Swords Dance, Aqua Jet, Stone Edge and either Knock Off or a stronger physical water-type move like Waterfall (for having a chance to flinch the opponent) or Aqua Tail (for more power). And that's a safe set. Its Swift Swim ability is very handy when the rain is up and it will make Kabutops hard to outspeed, while Weak Armor lowers its defense each time it is hit by a physical move in exchange for an increase in its speed. Alternatively, Kabutops can learn both Stealth Rock and Rapid Spin; the former to set up an entry hazard and the latter to remove entry hazards. I wouldn't recommend either, just because I like to use Kabutops as a powerhouse, but it's your call.

All in all, I think Kabuto and Kabutops are a lot more interesting than Omanyte and Omastar, and I especially love Kabutops. But even these trilobite Pokémon are outclassed by a certain prehistoric Gen. I Pokémon that I love even more, mainly because of its Mega evolution. Nonetheless, Kabutops gets an excellent rating from me, just half a star shy of a perfect rating.

Rating: 4.5/5